Five on Friday: Lessons from the Hayden Kho–Katrina Halili Scandal

hayden-kho-katrina-halili

This topic is just too controversial to ignore. Unfortunately for us ordinary Filipinos (tayong mga dukha), we have no choice but to endure the unnecessary waste of time that everyone is forced into as a result of the Hayden Kho–Katrina Halili scandal. No I’m not gonna tell you where to get those videos, the sick bloggers have that covered in the SERPs.

So I’ll just offer five lessons to be learned from all the trouble this scandal has brought:

  1. Do not covet thy neighbor’s wife. Or husband, or boyfriend, or girlfriend. In plain terms, we should all know that having an affair with a person who’s in a relationship with someone else is absolutely wrong. Nothing in this world could justify the contrary. Though the 10 Commandments may have Christian origins, it’s message is found in most of humanity’s religions. There is nothing good in an adulterous affair.
  2. Anything out of the ordinary may only be acceptable with the mutual consent of all concerned. It is a different matter altogether whether recording private erotic moments to video is the act of a sick mind, but it goes without saying that such an uncommon act must only be through both party’s approval. In fact, this goes for everything in life and society—like the Philippine Senate conducting an investigation on such a trivial matter—maybe they should’ve consulted with other sectors if there is a need for an investigation, and a public one at that.
  3. Disk encrytion is a protection against data theft. Sensitive data should never be readily accesible. Private personal materials or confidential government records—they should only be available to the immediate persons that need them. To aide in security, consider disk encryption. Modern operating systems like OS X and Windows XP have it readily available. A better option is TrueCrypt which allows for on–the–fly encryption and plausible deniability, very handy if placed in a position where you are forced to reveal a password.
  4. In crisis, silence may be your best defense. Maybe sometimes. I strongly believe that this scandal shouldn’t have grown this controversial without the media’s attention (that includes us bloggers and the rest of the online mob) and more importantly, it woud’ve slowly died down if not for the grandstanding of politicians too corrupt for just a bit of media attention.
  5. Vote wisely in 2010. What you are seeing now is the undoing of Philippine politics. With an economic situation slowly getting worse, with a medical crisis in our midst, with a book tax issue that would’ve made us an international laughing stock, this is what we get—a full–blown media and political circus on a sex scandal of people who don’t even matter to 99% of Filipinos. Watch closely and be sure to remember the names you’re never supposed to write on a ballot in a year’s time, better yet never again in this lifetime. Think about it—this is where your taxes go, this is what you’ve bought with your 12% VAT on everything and that highway robbery of an income tax deducted monthly—a travesty. What a shame.

20 Responses

  1. Everything you said!

    I think it boiled down to their lack of sense and the consequences of their poor choices: from the two people who entered into physical relations with each other to the government officials who have questionable priorities.

    • It’s just sad that all this brouhaha is using up so much of taxpayers’ money, and when you think about it, they’re using the situation to look good for the ones who are entertained by such travesty—the crowd who don’t pay taxes. I don’t mean to discriminate, but it’s a fact that those who do nothing have as much voting power as every tax–paying Filipino.

  2. We have talked about this enough in our conversations and I can’t express my frustration more.
    People should think very hard before they judge other people and label them as victims or offenders. Judge your own self first.
    Definitely, all Filipinos should look at their present and future lives when voting. Tama na ang pagtitiis sa mga nagpapanggap na may malasakit sa bayan. Masyado nang nakakaawa ang mga Pilipino.

    • Unfortunately, the ones who should be noting down who NOT to vote are too busy downloading the scandal videos and putting them on their 3g cellphones so they have something to discuss with their unlimited txting friends. If Ninoy was still alive he’d probably shoot himself at this point in time. We Filipinos just love making fun of ourselves.

  3. Actually I believe this investigation is relevant. The Philippines is sadly lacking in cybercrime laws and privacy laws.

    What is irrelevant are some “showbiz” issues like is he/she a drug user, did they love each other (wtf? so if there was no love, it’s alright to do whatever you can get away with without the other’s consent), is he a kept man who receives P300,000 a month from his rich ex-gf, etc.

    • Though I believe an investigation would be useful, it need not be done by the Senate itself, and especially not with full media coverage to further put all involved in a shameful light.

      And seriously, I think we simply should stop making laws and just implement the ones we’ve been ignoring for decades or so. And there are more important laws than those that concern privacy and cybercrime, like those that should jail politicians who have various nefarious activities.

  4. it even got to the headlines of the broadsheets. i mean geez, dont we have more serious stuff that our govt should focus on? politicains use the issue as their leverage to make people believe that they are concerned as sh*t.

  5. on having relationships with people other than your significant other: it still boils down to mutual consent. ok lang naman ang polygamy sa ibang society.

  6. piliin ang dapat nating iboto sa 2010. Wag tayong maniwala sa mga pa pogi points na Kandidato.

  7. Movies of Hayden Kho with Katrina Halili, Maricar Reyes and Brazilian model: URL removed — markku

  8. it is gone to far & it is not a government bussines there are many like this in the people trying to judge them , senators shouldn,t waist time on this thet should focus on the mased up sistem & the non sence regolations.

  9. apparently, it’s the only issue “senator” revilla was (and is, i wouldn’t doubt) capable or confident of discussing –with a poor ability to identify the issue. if he had been objective and if his real intention was not to simply manipulate those who can’t think for themselves, he could have identified–first of all–that Kho, himself, was a victim. the first time i read the news about his “speech” lambasting Kho and his name-calling, i thought: nakakahiya. worse, the senate hearing–gigil na gigil ako.

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